Roger took Ronald to the big room next to the principal's office. On the door was written "Detention." This is where the principal of a public school exercises his power. He can keep a few troublemakers after school to punish them.
The two sat at a corner of the conference table. Roger Corman took a sip of coffee and said slowly:
"Most of the directors who work for me are new to the industry. So, I will talk to every new director before they direct for the first time. I will tell them my directing experience and help them get started quickly."
"Even though you are a temporary director who is only directing for one day, I will treat you equally and talk to you once."
"In the next 10 minutes, I will tell you about my experience as a director. I have directed more than 50 films. Many directors have never made as many films as I have in their entire lives."
"The most expensive part of making a movie is the shooting stage. The pre-production and post-editing don't cost much. During the shooting stage, money is spent like water every day. So, in my opinion, there is only one way to shoot a movie, and that is to shoot it quickly."
"Do you mind if I take some notes?" Ronald asked. After getting Roger's approval, he took out a small notebook and ballpoint pen from his waist bag and quickly wrote down "Photography expensive shot, front and back short shot, medium and fast shot".
"On the set, you have to sit down whenever you have the chance because directors need to stand for a long time and walk a lot. You have to rest whenever you can; otherwise, you will be very tired, and it will affect the next day's shooting. That's why the director's chair has a name, to prevent others from sitting on it."
"Find a chair and sit down..." Ronald wrote in his notebook.
"The most important thing about a movie is the first reel (about 11 minutes) at the beginning. The audience wants to know what happened. The second most important thing is the last reel. The audience wants to know how it ends. The ones in between are irrelevant. Just shoot whatever you want."
"Volume 1 is the heaviest..." Ronald wrote again.
"When writing a script, you should focus on a few main scenes. You can shoot many scenes in each scene, saving money and time. If the scene can use natural light or there is free light, write more scenes, which can save the cost and time of setting up the lighting."
"Focus on the scene, save on light, use less lighting..." Ronald looked up after taking note, waiting for the next line.
"Can you take shorthand?" Roger asked with interest.
"Yes, I took a correspondence course in shorthand when I was in grade 10," Ronald replied. "I had a health problem at the time and had difficulty speaking. My aunt was afraid that I would not be able to find a job in the future, so she asked me to learn a craft. Fortunately, I recovered later."
Roger Corman watched him take notes with interest...
"Don't rush during rehearsal. Just take as much time as you need. The time you spend on rehearsal will be saved during the shoot. No rework means faster shooting."
"Just rehearse..."
"Be confident on the set. The crew will always pay attention to what the director is doing, especially at the beginning of the shoot. Give them clear and specific instructions. As soon as you come in, tell them what the shot is like so that they will recognize you and give you the greatest support."
"The technical details of filming are not difficult. As a new director, you can master various techniques in about a week, and the smarter ones can do it even faster. But the performance of the actors is always a big problem, and you need to learn and accumulate as much experience as possible."
Roger talked about it, "How to inspire and encourage actors to give full play to their acting skills while keeping it within the overall framework of the film is the gold standard that distinguishes good directors from bad directors."
"In addition to spending time rehearsing, you also need to communicate with the actors as much as possible. Many mistakes are caused by a lack of mutual understanding between the director and the actors."
"If he's a method actor, you can discuss with him the highest task, what does this character want? What is his motivation?"
"Give the actors the script for tomorrow's shoot in advance. Don't give them the script on the day of shooting because they won't have time to digest it."
"If the actors have the ability to improvise, you can let them do it. Not every actor can improvise; comedians are more likely to do so. But this is also a matter of the director's style. I personally mainly follow the script."
"Let the camera move. The camera is the audience's eyes. Human eyes don't like static things. If something remains static on the screen for more than 5 seconds, the human eye will start to get bored. So let the camera keep moving, or let there be something fresh and exciting in the picture."
"The plot of a low-budget movie is not important. People don't come to see the story, but to see a woman in a bikini shooting terrorists with a machine gun, or a group of high school girls singing and dancing in cool clothes."
"Always trust your DP(Director of Photography) if you have a good DP. If he says he got it, then he got the shot you wanted because you can't see it yourself. If your DP is not good, then change someone else or do it yourself."
"The best light for outdoor photography is around sunrise and sunset, which is called magic light. But magic light is very short. Make full use of time. If you want to shoot longer, you can find a hillside and shoot the main shot at the foot of the hill. After sunset, climb up the hillside to chase the light. The sun has not yet set at higher places, so you can shoot close-up shots on the hillside. Bring a photographer, a reflector, and the actors to climb the mountain. Because the background cannot be seen in close-up shots, there will be no mistakes."
Roger began to recount his various secrets for saving money on low-budget films, and Ronald wrote them down quickly.
"You already know the Hollywood method. A master shot, two over-the-shoulder shots, and then a close-up..."
"Always have to have a sense of humor. Filmmaking is a very torturous business, with all kinds of accidents and emergencies. You need to have a good sense of humor to find ways to flexibly deal with these troubles that are not in the shooting plan."
Ronald's shorthand was very fast. He would often finish writing down what Roger had just said and then look up at him with curious eyes.
Roger Corman was a little proud. This might be the happiest time for him as a teacher. He was so happy that he couldn't help but talk more about things other than his directing experience.
"If you want to express a certain theme through a movie, put it in the background story. Never jump out directly in the movie and let the characters promote certain values. Put it in the subtext so that the audience will accept it imperceptibly. If you say it directly, the audience will be disgusted by your preaching."
"To date, I have directed and produced no less than 200 films, and only one lost money, which was 'The Invaders' in 1962. Because I wanted to promote equality and progressive values, I let the protagonist directly talk about racial equality for black people. This is the only movie of mine that lost money, although the reviews were good."
"The last thing is, if you want to be a filmmaker, you must persist. Persevere and persist. If you want to get rich, go into real estate."
"Uh," Ronald complained in his mind, "You've made so many profitable movies, why haven't you made a fortune yet? I heard that you're a multimillionaire. But I don't ask for money in the film industry, I just want to gain some experience first..."
After closing the notebook and putting it in their waist bags, they stood up and walked out. Ronald followed behind and turned off the fluorescent light switch. Roger Coleman nodded in satisfaction.
It's rare to find such a stingy multimillionaire.